Weird News Thread ....

[Jolie Rouge]

Our Civilization in Decline

Chicago police arrested six people in June and charged them with running an insurance scam, which was allegedly led by a 39-year-old man known as Bonecrusher; police said homeless men consented to have Bonecrusher administer compound fractures of the arm or leg, and they would then be taken to staged accident scenes and instructed how to make quick settlements with insurance companies of up to $100,000 (but getting to keep only about $1,500 of it).

And Sheffield Hallam University (Sheffield, England) announced in May that it would inaugurate a Master's degree program in creating video games; a spokesman for a Sony UK company said, "We hope more universities will start offering (curricula) like this."
[Chicago Sun-Times, 6-7-03] [The Sun, 5-23-03]

[lucybp]

POSTED: 2:23 p.m. EDT July 3, 2003
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa -- An Iowa bowling alley has put on bounty on mosquitoes.

The Totem Bowl, in Marshalltown, isn't offering cash, but it is offering a free game of bowling for every 10 dead mosquitoes brought in. There's a limit of two free games.

Manager Sue Taylor says it started off as a joke, but then the bowling alley decided to help eliminate the mosquito population.

In the past two weeks, about 25 "hunters" have turned in dead 'skeeters for a free game.

[Widgetsx3]

LONDON (AP) - When Glen and Melissa Brown's home got too crowded, their son flew the coop - er, to the coop.

They fitted their pigeon loft as a bedroom for their son, complete with bed, TV, video and DVD player.

On Friday, the couple refused a request by local officials to pull down the loft, a wooden structure which was built without permission and which social workers say is unsafe for a child.

Officials were alarmed to discover that 12-year-old Glen Jr. has been living in the loft for the past two years. Glen's stepbrother Xyron, also 12, had been living in a smaller shed adjoining the loft behind the Browns' public housing in Blyth, northeast England, but has now been persuaded by social workers to move back into the house.


Blyth Valley Housing, which operates public housing in the town, is adamant that the unauthorized 27-foot (9-meter) by 7-foot (2-meter) pigeon loft has to come down, but the Browns - who also have two daughters Carlene, 9, and Zoi, 2 - say they need it because their house is overcrowded.

Brown said Friday that council officials are the only ones to complain.

"The neighbors think it's great and nobody has ever complained about it," he said. "The neighbors are disgusted (with the council) because the kids weren't doing any harm."

But Ian Conway, chief housing officer for Blyth Valley Housing, said the loft must go.

"We are quite happy to offer them suitable accommodation within the immediate vicinity but they are quite happy living where they are and don't want to move and the kids are happy living in the sheds."

HI Jolie.....

[the fugative]

KALISPELL, Mont. -- A grizzly bear forced two campers to retreat into a lake before snatching their Doritos and smashing them into little pieces.

``He just left this little sawdust pile of broken chips,'' camper Daynna Dowell said.

Dowell was swimming in the Hungry Horse Reservoir on Saturday when she spotted the bear sniffing their dog.

``He walked up and smelled the dog. I thought he was going to bite his head off,'' Dowell said.

The dog barked and chased the bear back into the woods. But the bear followed the dog back to the beach.

Dowell's boyfriend, Jared Ondaro, who had been chopping wood, joined Dowell in the lake with an ax.

Dowell said she took photographs of the bear to provide evidence for investigators in case the animal devoured them.

She also called her sister on a cell phone, telling her what was happening and saying she'd call right back ... maybe.

After crushing the chips, the bear wandered back into the woods.

``(The bear) never acted mean,'' Dowell said. ``We stood around in the water for 15 or 20 minutes.''




Everyone loves Junk Food

[Jolie Rouge]

LONDON (AP) - When Glen and Melissa Brown's home got too crowded, their son flew the coop - er, to the coop.

Officials were alarmed to discover that 12-year-old [Glen Jr. has been living in the loft for the past two years. Glen's stepbrother Xyron, also 12, ... but the Browns - who also have two daughters Carlene, 9, and Zoi, 2

The names alone should have caused them to be reported to Child Services


Hi Widget !

[Jolie Rouge]

Bald Eagle Killed at National Zoo
By CANDACE SMITH


WASHINGTON (AP) - Officials at the National Zoo suspect that a large cat got into a bald eagle's enclosure and killed the bird, perhaps already weakened by fierce storms and unable to fly. It is the latest in a series of animal deaths at the zoo.

The male eagle died Friday morning, the same day that the zoo celebrated a new exhibit designed especially for bald eagles hurt in the wild. The dead eagle was housed separately from the zoo's two new eagles that were donated by American Eagle Foundation based at singer Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

The 21-year-old eagle, found by a zookeeper early Thursday, had severe puncture wounds to his abdomen and back, spokeswoman Julie Mason said. Zookeepers suspect a large cat crept into the cage and attacked the eagle, who could have been injured during Wednesday night's fierce rain storms.

``It very likely is a bobcat, but we haven't for a 100 percent identified it as a bobcat, but I think we're leaning toward that,'' said Bill Xanten, zoo general curator.

Xanten believes the eagle could not fly and the cat took advantage of the situation. ``Under ordinary circumstances, I find it really hard to believe that a cat would take on a full grown bald eagle,'' added Xanten.

The eagles are about 29 inches to 42 inches long, can weigh up to 15 pounds, and have a wing span of up to 8 feet, making them one of the largest birds in North America.

Park police took casts of paw prints in the bird's exhibit, which is about 24 feet high, 40 feet long and 15 feet deep. Experts were looking at the casts and planned to study the bite patterns on the bird, Xanten said. They also set up cameras and traps using fish as bait inside the bird cage, hoping to catch the predator.

Small feral cats, attracted by the eagle's fish meal, had been in the exhibit before, but there were no problems, Xanten said. The zoo is in Rock Creek Park and bobcats can be found in Maryland and Virginia, Xanten added.

The death comes shortly before the start of an independent review, conducted at the request of Congress, into recent animal deaths at the zoo.

A bald eagle died last year after becoming infected with the West Nile virus. Two red pandas that ate rat poison died in January and two zebras starved to death in January 2000. There has been at least a dozen other deaths including a lion, orangutan and elephant.

Al Cecere, president of the foundation that previously cared for the zoo's newest bald eagles, said Sunday he was not worried about the birds' safety. ``Whenever you have an organization that cares for literally hundreds of animals you're going to have some deaths on occasion,'' Cecere said. ``It's just sad that that happened, especially on the Fourth of July.''



On the Net:

National Zoo: http://natzoo.si.edu



07/06/03 16:17

[Jolie Rouge]

Was This a Celestial Sign From God?

A team of Swedish geologists has found what it believes is the crater made by a meteor that streaked across the sky and crashed into the Earth in 312 AD. If they're right--and carbon dating has already backed them up on it--this is a meteor whose presence may have changed the history of the world, asserts the BBC News Online.

The scene: Central Italy in the year 312 AD.
[The main character: Constantine, who was preparing to invade Italy in a battle with Maximinus Daia for control of Rome.
The plot: A celestial vision that changed history.

Before the battle, Constantine looked heavenward and saw a blazing light streaking through the sky. He interpreted the shocking sight to mean only one thing: It was a message from the Christian God, a kind of celestial vision. Constantine immediately converted to Christianity. He ordered his soldiers to paint the "Chi-Ro" symbol of Christ on their shields. The battle for Rome was very lopsided. Maximinus' troops defending the city were four times as strong in number as Constantine's troops. But Constantine was the victor, and he became the Roman emperor. He ordered that persecution of Christians cease and gave Christianity official status--a big boost for a fledgling religion.

Fast forward to 2003: The Swedish geologists, led by Jens Ormo, located the crater that they say was formed by the impact of a meteor as it slammed into the Earth. Radiocarbon dating places it around the year 312 AD. Ormo speculates that Constantine's celestial vision was actually that meteor. Such meteors occur only once every few thousand years, but Constantine had no way of knowing this. Ormo told the BBC News that the meteor would have smashed into the Earth with the force of a small nuclear bomb and would have been accompanied by a mushroom cloud and shockwaves.

And here is where the BBC News ponders this fascinating question: What if the meteor hadn't streaked through the sky above Italy on that day just before that decisive battle?

--Constantine might have lost the battle without the divine inspiration he used to his advantage to become the victor.

--If Constantine did not become emperor, Christianity would not have received state patronage.

--The establishment of the papacy in Rome may never ever happened.

[Jolie Rouge]

In a Gallup poll, believers say that they try to link their faith to everyday life, but admit there is a gap between what they believe and how they act.

Faith: What's Your Spiritual Index?

We Americans are very spiritual. Fully 72 percent say their lives have meaning and purpose because of faith, according to a new Gallup Poll of 1,509 adults that was conducted with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Research on Religion & Urban Civil Society. But as believers try to link their faith to everyday life, many admit there is a gap between what they believe and how they act.

Here are the results of the first annual Gallup poll to examine "The Spiritual State of the Union." The index has two components: Inner commitment gauges people's connection with God, a higher power, or divine will, while outer commitment looks at how they live out their inner commitment through service to others, their community, and society in general.

The nation's spiritual index: 74.7 percent (out of a possible 100 percent)
Average score for respondents' inner commitment: 79.8 percent
Average score for respondents' outer commitment: 69.5 percent

I agree completely that:
The overall health of the nation depends a great deal on the spiritual health of the nation: 77 percent

Life has meaning and purpose because of faith: 72 percent

Faith is involved in every aspect of life: 60 percent

What is our faith?

Christian: 80 percent

Non-Christian: 6 percent

No religious tradition: 13 percent


Of those who identified themselves as Christians, 76 percent agreed completely with the idea that all people, regardless of race, creed or wealth, are loved by God and therefore they should love all. However, only 44 percent said the notion that "God calls me to be involved in the lives of the poor and suffering" applies completely to them. "I think what that's telling us is that it's easy to believe something. It's harder to put it into play," The Rev. Scott Jones, a Tempe, Ariz., pastor who worked on the Gallup research, told Religion News Service.

Other findings regarding Christians who said they "agree completely" with these statements:

Believe that God is actively involved in their life: 74 percent

Find hope from their faith in Jesus Christ during a crisis: 67 percent

No task is too menial if God calls them to do it: 58 percent

More than a third of Americans say they are spiritual, rather than religious. "Being labeled religious is not as popular as it was, I guess, in earlier years," said George Gallup when he presented the findings. They defined spirituality in several ways, including belief in God or a higher power or just seeking to be a good person and reach their fullest human potential.

"You really cannot understand America if you do not understand her spiritual underpinnings," Gallup said. "This survey makes that point, loudly and clearly."

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...dex&floc=wn-nn

[Jolie Rouge]

Stinky! Top 10 Sweatiest U.S. Cities

When it comes to sweat--that glistening, dripping, wipe it from your brow kind--some cities are stinkier...er, sweatier than others. And now we know which U.S. cities sweat the most.


The top 10 sweatiest cities are:

1. Phoenix, Arizona
2. Houston, Texas
3. Miami, Florida
4. San Antonio, Texas
5. Fort Myers, Florida
6. West Palm Beach, Florida
7. Tampa, Florida
8. Waco, Texas
9. Austin, Texas
10. New Orleans, Louisiana


You're probably wondering who would ever measure such a thing. You know it's not the Chamber of Commerce. It was Old Spice. Researchers at Procter & Gamble, which make Old Spice deodorant and cologne, were given the not-so-enviable task of measuring the typical perspiration level of the typical resident on a typical summer day in dozens of major U.S. cities. (And you think your job stinks!) Fortunately, the researchers were able to do this work in the cool, air-conditioned comfort of their offices with nothing but the heat of their calculators to steam up their glasses. To come up with the sweat index, they determined the city ranking based on the average U.S. male/female height and weight, the average high temperature, and the relative humidity level in each of the surveyed cities during June, July, and August. The sweat level was analyzed based on the assumption that the typical individual was walking for one hour each day. And when all the numbers were crunched and calculated, Phoenix was anointed the No. 1 perspiration producer in the United States of America. Now that you know, plan your vacation accordingly.


The five least sweatiest cities are:

San Diego, California
Portland, Maine
Spokane, Washington
Seattle, Washington
San Francisco, California

[Jolie Rouge]

Hackers Break Into Thousands of Web Sites
By TED BRIDIS


WASHINGTON (AP) - A battle among hackers erupted on the Internet Sunday as some factions disrupted a loosely coordinated ``contest'' among other groups trying to vandalize thousands of Web sites around the world.

Unknown attackers for hours knocked offline an independent security Web site, zone-h.org, that was verifying reports of online vandalism and being used by hackers to tally points for the competition. U.S. government and private technology experts warned last week that such vandalism was likely.

Three such vigilante-style attacks forced the hacker organizer, who identified himself only as ``Eleonora67,'' to extend the contest until 6 p.m. EDT Sunday. But with continued attacks disrupting the ability of vandals to claim credit for their break-ins, some experts said it could be later this week before damage from this weekend's hacking would be known.

By late Sunday afternoon, hackers claimed responsibility for vandalizing hundreds of mostly obscure Web sites, such as ones for Security Title Co. and the Heart of Montana Realty Services, both of Bozeman, Mont.


``We're just a teeny little company,'' said Barb Asper, whose husband, Don, is one of the owners for Montana Realty. In a telephone interview, Don Asper called the attack ``bothersome,'' before he and his wife contacted the firm's Web site provider to have the vandalized page replaced.


There were no reports of vandalism involving flagship Internet sites most consumers would recognize, a testament to improved online security over the past decade inside large corporations, government agencies and organizations.


``We at least knew it was coming,'' said Peter Allor of Internet Security Systems Inc., which distributed a warning Wednesday about the contest using an alert system for technology companies. ``We took some efforts to harden our sites.''


Some of the relatively unknown Web sites vandalized Sunday, such as one for a church in California, were converted into informal reporting mechanisms for identifying other hacked sites.


Many security experts said the nickname of the hacker claiming responsibility for the contest, ``Eleonora67,'' was unfamiliar.



07/06/03 18:28

[Jolie Rouge]

Love a Thick, Juicy Steak? Scary News

A sizzling steak or hamburger on the grill may be what's for dinner this weekend, but eating too much of these fatty staples could lead to type 2 diabetes, according to new research from the University of Minnesota. Doctors have long suspected a link between diabetes and saturated fat or animal fat, but no actual biological evidence has ever been produced--until now. This study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, concludes that as the level of fatty acids increase, the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes also increases. In other words, eat too many steaks and burgers and you're more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.


The study:

To come up with the biological smoking gun, lead researcher Lu Wang measured the levels of fatty acids in the blood of 2,909 adults ages 45 to 64 and followed the participants for nine years. Fatty acids accumulate over time. The more saturated fat you eat, the higher the level of fatty acids.

The results:

11.5 percent, or 252, of the men and women developed type 2 diabetes. Fatty acids were significantly associated with the risk for diabetes even after adjusting for other known risk factors, such as age, gender, body mass index, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, physical activity, education, family history, and more.


What can you do now to lower your risk of getting diabetes later?
Lose weight, exercise, and eat a diet that is rich in fish and vegetables and low in animal fat. A recent study from Harvard University even suggests one or two glasses of wine or beer daily can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in pre-menopausal women. You can still eat the steak. Just make it an occasional treat instead of a regular meal. The study findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.